Thailand is known as the ``Land of Smiles'' for good reason. Its history
has been remarkably free of the fierce religious, ethnic and racial
conflict that has torn at so many other countries of the region. Thais,
known for their tolerance of other peoples and cultures, have always
greeted strangers with a smile, from the earliest Chinese traders to the
Christian missionaries of the 19th century.

But times change. Since the economic meltdown of 1997, which Thais have
been taught to blame on foreigners rather than their own leaders,
Thailand has become more inward looking and much less charitable in
their views of other people. Thais have been told the West lusts after
their country and foreigners merely want to feed off their land. If the
economy is to be restored and the nation saved from the foreign hordes,
Thais must help Thais. They must listen only to their leaders, since all
else are ignorant egoists often on the payroll of foreign interests.

Given the circumstances, it is hardly surprising that the most
vulnerable foreign group in Thailand is often made to pay the price of
jingoism. Immigrant workers, in particular those from Burma, constitute
that group. And since most are here illegally, the authorities often
treat them as if they have no rights at all in Thailand.

Take the case earlier this month of the six Burmese workers shot in the
head and their bodies incinerated after allegedly resisting the
extortion attempts of local administration officers in Mae Sot. A police
inquiry was launched only after the matter was made public by a
non-governmental organisation and the Burmese government called for
action.

This terrible crime took place just as the country was to launch its war
on dark influence. It makes a mockery of the crackdown on organised
crime, especially offences committed with the involvement, whether
implicit or explicit, of state officials. Uniformed police and military
officers were said to be seen in the presence of the Burmese workers
before they were killed. But no one has been charged for this indecency.

Armed teenage gangs reportedly terrorise Burmese workers in Mae Sot with
impunity. They roam the streets on motorcycles harassing and stealing at
knife point or the end of a gun. The workers say the gangs despise them
simply because they are Burmese, and the police mostly ignore their
complaints.

An illegal immigrant has his rights in Thailand just like anybody else.
Thailand is bound by domestic and international laws and obligations to
protect all peoples within its borders regardless of ethnic, racial or
socio-economic background. The national government must remind its
officers of this. Those responsible for the slaughter of the six Burmese
must be brought to justice and people must be allowed to walk the
streets free of harassment and theft.

The most disturbing thing in all this is what is happening to ordinary
Thais. Have we become a nation of jingoistic, narrow-minded rednecks?
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who has fanned the flag-waving
sentiment to great political advantage, must be careful he does not
generate an unwholesome nationalist conflagration. Nationalism is not a
bad thing, in doses, but in excess it can create a chauvinism dangerous
to democratic and open society. If it is left unchecked, it can lead to
something wholly undesirable, a system of government marked by a
concentration of authority under a dictatorial leader, strident
socio-economic control, the suppression of opposition through terror and
censorship and, typically, a policy of belligerent nationalism and
racism. Sound familiar? It should. It's fascism.
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Source: http://www.bangkokpost.com